UK-based marketing agency Deviate Digital has made a series of hires and promotions to be based out of its London head office.

Stef Pascual, former Head of Digital at Crown Talent, The Orchard, Sony Red & Essential has been appointed as the company’s first Strategy Director, reporting directly to CEO Sammy Andrews.

Elsewhere, Andra Iszlai, former marketing executive at Live Nation & AEG – The O2 joins Deviate as PPC and Social Media Advertising Specialist, further expanding the company’s digital advertising capacity.

Internally, Alex Rusted has been promoted to the role of Senior Digital Marketing Manager.

Rusted, formerly Live Nation and Abbey Road Studios, joined the company in 2019 as Digital Marketing Manager and has since delivered campaigns for several Top 10 records across the roster.

Deviate was founded by CEO Sammy Andrews in 2017 and operates on a global basis out of the UK with strategic partners in core territories including the US and Europe.

Despite the nature of the company’s work, to date, Deviate has never had a website. All the company’s work is generated from referral/word of mouth.

Deviate has worked with a broad range of clients including; Kobalt/Awal, Apple Music, WarChild, SONY, Annie Lennox , Scarlxrd, Raw Power Management, ATC Management, Virgin EMI Records, Island Records, Universal Music, BMG, The Tileyard Group, The Kinks, XIX, Lola Lennox, Various Artists, Juicebox Records, The Prodigy, Hurts, Gold Key, The Circle, Sudan Archives, Tileyard Music, Stones Throw Records, Teenage Cancer Trust, Johnny Marr, Distiller Records, Time Inc, Band Of Skulls, UMOD, Closer Artists.

Until April 2020, Deviate was the exclusive digital advertising supplier to AEG Presents and Golden Voice in the UK, working across all festivals including British Summer Time and All Points East as well as all UK touring activity.

“I’m beyond excited to join Deviate Digital, a forward thinking company with incredible potential in the wider entertainment realm.”

Stef Pascual

Stef Pascual said: “I’m beyond excited to join Deviate Digital, a forward thinking company with incredible potential in the wider entertainment realm.

“Sammy Andrews is a trail-blazer in the industry, and has built a fantastic team that thrive in creativity and deliver outstanding results consistently.

“I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Deviate but trust me, it is looking bright!”

“I am thrilled to be welcoming Stef and Andra to the team today and very happy to recognise Alex’s hard work with a well earned promotion.”

Sammy Andrews

Sammy Andrews added: “I am thrilled to be welcoming Stef and Andra to the team today and very happy to recognise Alex’s hard work with a well earned promotion.

“I was actually part of the hiring process for Stef back at Essential many moons ago and was blown away by her ability then, very much looking forward to working with her again all these years on in her new role with Deviate. It’s an exciting time to be joining our company in such a pivotal role.”

Continued Andrews: “Andra absolutely floored us in her interviews with her knowledge, vision and drive, I can’t wait to see what she can do as part of our ever expanding advertising team, who last week scored No.1 with You Me At Six running paid spend for UK and International markets.

“Alex Rusted has truly excelled since joining the team back in 2019 and it is only right this is recognised with a step up, he will now be leading on several projects over the coming months and will be building out his own team here as he progresses.

“Excited to see what we can achieve together this year and very proud to be working alongside such an incredible team.”

 Music Business Worldwide